2026 New Release from EmpireTech

[Techie007L]

Have you tried playing with shutter exposure to reduce that smearing?
Also, what about adjusting the IR intensity - these new models don't seem to be anywhere close in performance to REAL Starlight cameras

Shutter was 6 , Gain 50 and 2-3D NR 45/45 , IR was 100%.

That smearing is 100% the 3D (frame stacking) noise reduction. With a 6ms shutter, you're way past the sweet spot with these cameras, and it's making up for it by stacking frames together more aggressively. I wouldn't recommend anything lower than 15ms. "But then fast objects will blur"—they already are and there is nothing you can do about it because of the noise reduction algorithm. Notice the static moire pattern on moving objects with low contrast, such as your shirt? The faster the shutter speed, the noisier the incoming image (and you can't see how dark your exposure actually is because of the AI contrast remapping, which is acting as a digital gain on top of the analog gain you have locked at 50), and this noise gets into the noise reduction filter on the moving edge, and then is aggressively filtered by stacking frames afterwards, causing this static texture/smearing/rolling to appear (honestly, their buffer averaging curve to simulate stacking frames as the gate closes isn't correct; it increases too quickly, locking in noise from when the gate first opened to let changes from movement through. Tuned correctly, this noise/texture would fade immediately as additional frames stacked, instead of holding the initial texture static so long).

At that light level, the camera will exhibit a certain amount of motion blur no matter what you do. If you are wise, you will recognize this and maximize the shutter time to match, giving the algorithm a brighter, cleaner image to work with, causing it to reduce the digital gain being added, which will in turn reduce the frame stacking and produce a cleaner image with the SAME AMOUNT of motion blur you currently have. The noisiness of the current image on moving objects is largely your fault for using such a fast shutter speed. If the amount of motion blur is intolerable, your only options are to add more light or buy a different camera. The only thing you're accomplishing by using such a fast shutter speed is making the camera look even worse than what it could otherwise do.

 

[JPmedia]

As far as I'm concerned, a good image begins with a good sensor and optics. If you don't have either, the image will never be good. No amount of software manipulation will make it good if you're using a noisy sensor and/or poor optics. Manipulation cannot currently replicate what the human eye can see. The outcome of software will always look different to the human eye - period.

 

[Arjun]

Yup, I would lean more on a well-known brand of sensors. Hardware comes first, followed by software. Shit hardware can never equate to quality output, does not matter how much AI bullshit you crap load into their their processing units - in fact, there comes a point where the cons outweigh the benefits - you end up bottlenecking the hardware, thus compromising performance long-term

Interestingly and coincidentally, if the Chinese can prey on the everyday American through their cameras, I am very sure they can find a solution to reallocate their resources and spend quality time on their software; but software development is the last thing on their minds - so what makes you think they will take our feedback seriously; they will always think they are right. In summary, hardware first, then software - I'm sure a few software developers here can figure out how to crack the code and make custom-firmware and at least curate something better than the stock firmware.

 

[bigredfish]

That smearing is 100% the 3D (frame stacking) noise reduction. With a 6ms shutter, you're way past the sweet spot with these cameras, and it's making up for it by stacking frames together more aggressively. I wouldn't recommend anything lower than 15ms. "But then fast objects will blur"—they already are and there is nothing you can do about it because of the noise reduction algorithm. Notice the static moire pattern on moving objects with low contrast, such as your shirt? The faster the shutter speed, the noisier the incoming image (and you can't see how dark your exposure actually is because of the AI contrast remapping, which is acting as a digital gain on top of the analog gain you have locked at 50), and this noise gets into the noise reduction filter on the moving edge, and then is aggressively filtered by stacking frames afterwards, causing this static texture/smearing/rolling to appear (honestly, their buffer averaging curve to simulate stacking frames as the gate closes isn't correct; it increases too quickly, locking in noise from when the gate first opened to let changes from movement through. Tuned correctly, this noise/texture would fade immediately as additional frames stacked, instead of holding the initial texture static so long).

At that light level, the camera will exhibit a certain amount of motion blur no matter what you do. If you are wise, you will recognize this and maximize the shutter time to match, giving the algorithm a brighter, cleaner image to work with, causing it to reduce the digital gain being added, which will in turn reduce the frame stacking and produce a cleaner image with the SAME AMOUNT of motion blur you currently have. The noisiness of the current image on moving objects is largely your fault for using such a fast shutter speed. If the amount of motion blur is intolerable, your only options are to add more light or buy a different camera. The only thing you're accomplishing by using such a fast shutter speed is making the camera look even worse than what it could otherwise do.

Or just use a 5442 S3

 

[Arjun]

Or just use a 5442 S3

@bigredfish is damn right, just don't discontinue the 5442 S3 - I mean seriously, how hard is it for Dahua to understand this. Its cheaper to manufacture and profit too! versus all of that botched AI Bullshit. My guess is that they want to copy the American way of life ==> consume, consume, consume, rinse and repeat, oh and try every way possible to hack into the lives of millions to copy westernized living standards while maintaining communism as their form of governance.

Why not just purchase a health-aid resource book from Amazon on how to practice the Kamasutra; its probably less safe to peak into someone's cameras to learn the American way. Damn...how hard can it be.

 

[tigerwillow1]

I'll throw out an S3 vs. IL video. The cat is 75 feet from the 6mm camera and isn't a very good subject, it's all I have right now while this discussion is hot. These are recorded from screen captures, and for nitpicking the image I wonder how much BI, UI3, and the screen capture are polluting it? They are digitally zoomed. With the full camera FOV almost filling my monitor the cat is a half inch long. Without external IR I doubt the cat would be visible at all on the S3, and possibly as an unidentifiable blob on the IL. The 2nd image starts a second later, and if you click play on the top then quickly on the bottom, they play simultaneously.

The S3:

View attachment S3-1x.mp4

The IL:


View attachment IL-1x.mp4